SCARNE’S RULES FOR OTHER DICE GAMES
There are many parlor games using dice game manufactures are constantly issuing board games based on current events, politics, real estate, or on other games such as football, baseball, hockey, boxin, etc., in which dice determines the moves of the counters . since these games are so numerous and many of them are exceedingly short-lived, the rules given here are limited to the most popular dice games currently played in carnivals, bazaars, Monte Carlo nights, gaming clubs, bars, and homes.
Most of these games have been completely neglected by previous rule book compilers and many of them first appeared in print in scarne on Dice. For the first time, each game was analyzed to find out whether the game was an even up propositions and, if not, who had the advantage. In the banking games, the percentages in favor of the banker are given.
Both the names and rules of some of these games vary in different parts of the country. The commonest method of play poker is the one give here, except when it is either strategically or mathematically unsound, in which case the error has been corrected. Some players do not distinguish between similar games such as Indian Dice and Poker Dice, and they play one nearly the same as the other. In these cases I have set down the methods of play that are most dissimilar.
The great majority of dice games to be found in most of the Hoyle type game books are hundred-year-and-more-old games that are seldom played today, probably because the rules given are nearly always incomplete.
correct Odds in Dice Games Using Two, Three, Four, or Five Dice. Dozens of different private and banking dice games are played today and their names and rules vary in different parts of the country. For example, some players do not distinguish between similar games such as Hazard and Chuck A Luck.
The great majority of these games make use of from two to five dice, and nearly all the hustler’s sucker or proposition bets are made on throws of two, three, four, or five dice. They usually involve either he combined total or the appearance of one or more of several possible combinations of hands such as one pair, two pair, three of a kind, etc.
The following tables show the various combinations, the number of ways they can be made, and the odds against making them in one trial. These tables will enable the player to analyze most of the dice problems he will meet. Reference to the correct odds shown here will show whether a proposition bet is or is not a sucker bet. These odds will also enable the player to figure the house’s favorable percentage in a banking game. The tables also give you the answer to odds problems that arise in other dice games .
Two Dice
Specific hand & combinaions |
Number of Ways |
Odds Against in one Trial |
One pair |
6 |
5 to 1 |
A specific pair |
1 |
35 to 1 |
No pair |
30 |
1 to 5 |
A specific no pair |
2 |
|
To combinations of all nonspecified hands |
36 |
Three Dice
| Specific hand & combinaions | Number of Ways |
Odds Against in one Trial |
Three of a kind |
6 |
35.0 to 1 |
A specific three of a kind |
1 |
215.0 to 1 |
One pair |
90 |
1.4 to 1 |
A specific pair |
15 |
13.4 to 1 |
No pair |
120 |
4.0 to 5 |
To combinations of all nonspecified hands |
216 |
Four Dice
| Specific hand & combinaions | Number of Ways |
Odds Against in one Trial |
Four of a kind |
6 |
215 to 1 |
A specific four of a kind |
1 |
1295 to 1 |
Three of a kind |
120 |
9.8 to 1 |
A specific three of a kind |
20 |
63.8 to 1 |
Two pairs |
90 |
13.4 to 1 |
A specific two pairs |
6 |
215 to 1 |
One pair |
720 |
4 to 5 |
A specific one pair |
120 |
9.8 to 1 |
No pair |
360 |
7.6 to 1 |
To combinations of all nonspecified hands |
1296 |
Five Dice
| Five of a kind | 6 |
1295 to 1 |
A specific five of a kind |
1 |
7775 to 1 |
Four of a kind |
150 |
50.8 to 1 |
A specific four of a kind |
25 |
310.0 to 1 |
Full house |
300 |
24.9 to 1 |
A specific full house |
10 |
776.6 to 1 |
Straight |
240 |
31.4 to 1 |
A specific straight |
120 |
63.8 to 1 |
Three of a kind |
1200 |
5.5 to 1 |
A specific three of a kind |
200 |
37.8 to 1 |
Two pairs |
1800 |
3.3 to 1 |
A specific two pairs |
120 |
63.8 to 1 |
One pair |
3900 |
1.2 to 1 |
A specific one pair |
900 |
11.9 to 1 |
No pair |
480 |
15.2 to 1 |
Total combinations of all nonspecified hands |
7776 |
Note: when straights do not count, the number of no pairs increases to 720.
Five Dice, aces Wild
Five of a kind |
156 |
48.8 to 1 |
A specific five of a kind (no aces) |
31 |
249.8 to 1 |
Five aces |
1 |
7775 to 1 |
Four of a kind |
1300 |
4.9 to 1 |
A specific four of a kind (no aces) |
260 |
28.9 to 1 |
Full house |
500 |
14.5 to 1 |
A specific full house (no aces) |
100 |
76.7 to 1 |
Straight |
1300 |
4.8 to 1 |
A specific straight |
660 |
10.8 to 1 |
Three of a kind |
2400 |
2.2 to 1 |
A specific three of a kind (no aces) |
480 |
15.2 to 1 |
Two pairs |
900 |
7.6 to 1 |
A specific two pairs (no aces) |
180 |
42.2 to 1 |
One pair |
1200 |
5.5 to 1 |
A specific pair (no aces) |
480 |
31.4 to 1 |
Total combinations of all nonspecified hands |
240 |
|
7776 |
Note: The words in parentheses (no aces) mean that you cannot make such a hand. example: No matter what numbers show on the dice, it is impossible to make a four-ace hand (with aces wild). If you threw four aces and a deuce, you would have five deuces, if you threw two aces and a pair of deuces, you would have four deuces, etc.
Two Dice
Numbers |
Ways |
Odds against in one Trial |
2(or 12) |
1 |
35.0 to |
3(or 11) |
2 |
17.0 to |
4(or 10) |
3 |
11.0 to 1 |
5(or 9) |
4 |
8.0 to 1 |
6(or 8) |
5 |
6.2 to 1 |
7 |
6 |
5.0 to 1 |
Three Dice
Numbers |
Ways |
Odds against in one Trial |
3(or 18) |
1 |
215.0 to |
4(or 17) |
3 |
71.0 to 1 |
5(or 16) |
6 |
35.0 to 1 |
6(or 15) |
10 |
20.6 to 1 |
7(or 14) |
15 |
13.4 to 1 |
8(or 13) |
21 |
9.3 to 1 |
9(or 12) |
25 |
7.6 to 1 |
10(or 11) |
27 |
6.6 to 1 |
Four Dice
Numbers |
Ways |
Odds against in one Trial |
4(or 24) |
1 |
1295 to 1 |
5(or 23) |
4 |
323.0 to 1 |
6(or 22) |
10 |
128.6 to 1 |
7(or 21) |
20 |
63.8 to 1 |
8(or 20) |
35 |
36.0 to 1 |
9(or 19) |
56 |
22.1 to 1 |
10(or 18) |
88 |
13.7 to 1 |
11(or 17) |
96 |
12.5 to 1 |
12(or 16) |
125 |
9.3 to 1 |
13(or 15) |
140 |
8.3 to 1 |
14 |
146 |
7.8 to 1 |
Five Dice
Numbers |
Ways |
Odds against in one Trial |
5(or 30) |
1 |
7775.0 to 1 |
6(or 29) |
5 |
1554.2 to 1 |
7(or 28) |
15 |
517.4 to 1 |
8(or 27) |
35 |
221.1 to 1 |
9(or 26) |
70 |
110.0 to 1 |
10(or 25) |
126 |
60.7 to 1 |
11(or 24) |
205 |
36.9 to 1 |
12(or 23) |
305 |
24.4 to 1 |
13(or 22) |
420 |
17.5 to 1 |
14(or 21) |
540 |
13.4 to 1 |
15(or 20) |
651 |
10.9 to 1 |
16(or 19) |
735 |
9.5 to 1 |
17(or 18) |
780 |
8.9 to 1 |
This is a very old dice game, originally called Sweat-Cloth in England, and known in this country, where it appeared about 1800, as sweat. Later it came to be known as Chucker-Luck and finally as Chuck-Luck, chuck-A-Luck, and simply Chuck. More recently it has been known as Bird cage. Since the numbers on the back line of the Hazard layout (originally called Grand Hazard) are the same, these are called the chuck numbers and are paid off at the same odds. Thus, the two games are very closely related.
Rules. Three dice are tumbled in a wire cage called the chuck cage and the layout bears the numbers 1,2,3,4,5,6. The online poker players place their bets on the numbered spaces of the layout and, if the player’s number appears on one die, the bank pays off even money; if his number appears on two dice, the bank pays 2 to 1; and if it appears on all three dice, the bank pays 3 to 1.
In the casinos today it is the occasional gambler and the women who give the cage its action. It is also found at outings and bazaars where, when it gets action, it is an outing hustler’s dream. “Three winners,” the dealer shouts, “and three losers every time.” This come-on sounds good and is apparently believed by the nonthinkers who play the game; but it is considerably shy of the truth. Suppose we test the dealer’s claim by putting one dollar on each of the six numbers and spin the cage. If the three dice show three different numbers, the house takes in $3 and pays out $3. So far it’s even-up. Then, notice what happens whenever two dice show the same number. Suppose that two three’s and a four are thrown. The bank pays $2 on the three and $1 on the four but collects $1 each on the one, two, five, and six. There are two winners and four losers and the house pays out $3 and collects $4 for a dollar profit. And, it three of a kind are thrown, there is one winner and five losers the house pays out $3 and takes in $5 for a $2 profit.
To find out what this advantage, in favor for the house, amounts to in percentage, we consult our three-dice table. We find that 216 combinations can be made with three dice which, in the long run, will consist of 120 no pairs, 90 pairs, and six three of a kind. A continuation of our mathematical analysis gives us the percentage in favor of the house: 747/54 percent.
A Chuck-A-Luck cagewd
Some impatient Bird Cage operators apparently feel that even this poker percentage is not strong enough because they gaff the cage as well, using “electric dice” and an electromagnet in the table beneath the cage. Actually, electric dice are loaded in such a way that, when the magnet is on, they bring up either one of two opposite sides. The three chuck dice are all loaded alike and, when the juice is on, either a pair or three of a kind must appear. If the open sides are the six and ace, the dice will show three sixes, three aces, a pair of sixes, and an ace or a pair of aces and a six. The tip off on the electric cage is the fact that the distance between the floor of the cage and the table in which the magnet is concealed is not as great as on a fair cage.
Hazard
There used to be two games of Hazard, the 700-year-old English Hazard, played with two dice from which Craps evolved; and a three- dice Hazard played with a layout and called Grand Hazard. Writers of game books have long confused them; even today they think that Grand Hazard is Chuck-A-Luck.